Tories call for release of leaked AG report into G8 spending

Mark Kennedy and Amy Minsky, Postmedia News04.12.2011

The auditor general was not immediately addressing reports on Monday that documents leaked from her office said the Conservative government misinformed Parliament and used potentially illegal processes to gain approval for a $50-million G8 infrastructure fund to support projects in a Conservative riding.

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OTTAWA — The Conservatives are calling on Auditor General Sheila Fraser to publicly release the final version of her report into the Harper government's spending for last summer's G8 summit after a draft version — supposedly highly critical — was leaked to the media.

The story, which emerged on Monday morning, has landed like a bombshell in the middle of the election campaign and threatens to throw Conservative leader Stephen Harper off stride just one day before the critical leaders' debate.

The Conservatives, however, maintain that Canadians should basing their views on the actual final report — and not just media coverage.

"Media speculation on contents of the auditor general's report do not reflect the final version of the report," a Tory spokesman said Monday. "We're calling on the auditor general and the Speaker of the House to release the final version of the report, and we're prepared to help facilitate the final version of the report in any way necessary."

The auditor general was not immediately commenting on the reports Monday by The Canadian Press, which reportedly saw a Jan. 13 draft of the chapter on the government's G8 legacy-infrastructure fund.

According to the report, Fraser concluded in that draft that the Conservative government misinformed Parliament and used potentially illegal processes to gain approval for a $50-million G8 infrastructure fund to support projects in a the Conservative-held riding of Parry Sound-Muskoka.

Fraser conducted a review of the more than $1 billion in government spending for the G8 summit in Huntsville, Ont., and the G20 summit in Toronto.

Her review also included an examination of the G8 Legacy Infrastructure Fund.

She had been scheduled to table her report in Parliament on April 5, but that was postponed once the government was defeated on March 25, leading to the dissolution of Parliament and the current campaign which ends with an election on May 2.

According to The Canadian Press, a draft version of Fraser's confidential report found that Industry Minister Tony Clement, the mayor of Huntsville, Ont., and the general manager of the Deerhurst resort which hosted the G8 summit selected which projects received funding without considering either the needs of the summit or the funding rules laid out by government.

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff accused Harper of sitting on the report, and called for its immediate release.

"These are shocking revelations," Ignatieff said Monday. "If those reports are true, (the Conservatives) do not deserve the confidence of Canadians.

They may have broken the law. Mr. Harper has no choice," he added. "He's got to release this report today. He's got to explain to Canadians how he could have so scandalously abused public funds."

Meanwhile, the NDP's Olivia Chow used the news of the leaked report to call for a public inquiry into the summits' spending.

"This is an allegation by the auditor general about criminal activity. Let's make sure the criminals are punished," she said during a Toronto campaign event. "Let's get to the bottom of it now — not after May 2."

"Fifty million (dollars) going to Conservative riding through any of the normal procedures is outrageous enough," Chow added.

Chow's husband, NDP leader Jack Layton, is in Ottawa preparing for the first federal leaders' debates on Tuesday.

The NDP candidate for Trinity-Spadina also expressed outrage at the mismanagement of funds that went into the G8 summit, in Huntsville, when many Toronto business owners are still waiting for compensation for damage to their businesses during the G20.

With files from Linda Nguyen

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